Sabbatical
by Porthos1013
Summary: Just a bit of McWeir fluff inspired by a fishing trip. Also some mild Weirwhumping.


Author: Porthos

Summary: Just a bit of McWeir fluff inspired by a fishing trip. Also some mild Weir-whumping.

Author's notes: This story was inspired by actual events on a recent fishing trip with my grandfather. Luckily, however, my pole was fixable. ;)

oOo

Rodney drank in the site before him. Elizabeth sat on the water level porch of Atlantis, staring out into the ocean at the sunlight reflecting on the ripples, making them sparkle. She looked so calm, almost tranquil. Far from the responsibilities and pressures that were requisite as the leader of Atlantis, this pier was her sanctuary.

Rodney stepped out from the protected shelter of the shaded doorway and onto the sunlit porch. "You know, one day someone besides me is going to find out about your little sabbaticals, and then the jig is up."

Elizabeth turned to look at him, not at all surprised to see him here. "Rodney!" she called, a pleased smile on her face. Her eyes sparkled like the ocean waves from under the bill of an olive drab baseball cap. He wondered idly where she had gotten it. Obviously, she had borrowed from one of the gorillas that passed for military officers. Or maybe Major Sheppard gave it to her? Rodney immediately repressed that displeasing thought.

"Come here! Sit." Elizabeth motioned to the empty folding chair next to where she sat. Rodney grinned smugly, realizing she had been expecting him. "And I believe you mean, 'our sabbaticals.'" At his puzzled look, she continued in a teasing tone. "Oh, was I mistaken, or have you not been out here with me for the last three weeks?"

Rodney pursed his lips. It was true. Ever since he had accidentally found out about her weekly 'constitutionals,' he had somehow found an excuse to come and join her. "It's a good place to get away from pesky, overeager lab technicians," he said, feeling a need to defend himself.

Elizabeth frowned in mock seriousness. "Yes," she nodded, "and my mountains of boring paperwork."

"And Zelenka hounding me every five minutes about the latest 'emergency,'" Rodney continued.

"And Major Sheppard," they both said at the same time. They smiled at one another, each amused and a little embarrassed.

After a moment, Elizabeth returned to gazing out at the water, leaving Rodney gazing at her. His eyes once again drifted to the hat, then back to her face. He decided to ask the question that had been in the back of his mind for three weeks. "Elizabeth," he began, "you had your choice to bring one personal possession with you, anything at all. Why would you choose to bring a fishing pole?"

Elizabeth laughed and looked at the pole in her hands. "I've told you, Rodney, I _enjoy_ fishing! It relaxes me."

"Yes, but," Rodney began, sitting up in his chair. Elizabeth could tell he was getting into full I'm-going-to-tell-you-why-I'm-right-and-you're-wrong mode. "Well, you could have brought anything with you for relaxation. A good book, or music, or a chess set! Or bubble bath, girls like bubble bath, don't they?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. In an effort to cut him off from one of his characteristic rants, she shoved a glass of the blue liquid she was drinking in his face. "Here, Rodney. Have some lemonade."

From the look on his face, you would have thought she'd said, "Guess what, Rodney! I've invited the Wraith over for a picnic, and you're the main course!"

Realizing her error, she smiled gently. "Don't worry Rodney, it's not really lemonade, it just tastes like it. The Athosians make it from some sort of alien fruit." At his continued skepticism, she added lightly, "I had Carson check it out for you, and it's fine. Citrus free."

His expression immediately changed, obviously touched that she would go to so much trouble for him. He apprehensively took the proffered glass and ventured a tiny, tiny sip. Apparently satisfied when he didn't keel over and die, he took a larger sip, and smiled. Content that he would remain quiet for at least a little while longer, Elizabeth decided to continue her explanation on why she enjoyed fishing. "You may not believe it, Rodney, but fishing is very soothing to me. There's something almost hypnotic about watching that little red and white ball bob up and down on the waves. It requires patience, and it gives me time to think, or not to think, whatever I decide," she finished with a smirk.

Rodney began shaking his head. "That's all well and good, Elizabeth, but aren't you forgetting something?" Rodney waved his arms around vaguely. "We're on an alien planet! There's no telling what you might catch out here. It could be poisonous, or vicious, or an innocent looking little Wraith-fish that wants to suck the life out of you with its fins." Elizabeth blinked as she processed that mental image. "My point is, we don't know what's out there. And do you even know what to use for bait?"

Elizabeth triumphantly held up a plastic bag of what appeared to be green, mushy cubes. "Right now, I'm using Chef Olaf's stinky cheese. Last week it was leftover meatloaf."

Rodney suddenly turned the same shade as the cheese. "Remind me again, why did you bring him along?"

"Well, you enjoyed his cooking so much in Antarctica, I didn't think you could stand leaving Earth without him," she teased.

Rodney gave her what might have been a mock glare, or was he just squinting at her hat? "Oh, please. You know, I think he was actually trying to kill me on Antarctica? Every other day it was lemon chicken, key lime pie, tofu with orange sauce," Rodney made a face. "It's no wonder you haven't caught anything yet. Not even alien Wraith-fish want to go anywhere near his cooking."

"Rodney, most fish actually like nasty things. Besides, I've been a fisherman for a long time, I think I know what I'm doing—Oh! I think I felt a tug!"

Rodney joined her in moving to the edge of his seat. "Really?"

Elizabeth was visibly pulled to her feet with the next tug. She turned to him, her eyes wide. "I'd say so!"

The next tug pulled Elizabeth towards the water's edge. In one fluid motion, Rodney had thrown down his drink, knocked over his chair, and grabbed Elizabeth awkwardly around the waist from behind. "I've got you!" he assured.

But Elizabeth wasn't really paying attention to him, she was focused on the task of capturing what was certain to be a record-breaking catch. "It's gonna be a big one!" she exclaimed.

"Not if you lose it!" Rodney reminded her, and apparently decided she needed some help reeling it in. His hands alternated frantically between holding on to the pole and holding on to her, while occasionally barking out instructions into her ear. She knew he was trying to help, but all he was really doing was getting in the way. As soon as he started fidgeting with the pole and telling her to "turn the thing with the thing," she lost her patience.

"Rodney! Stop helping!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you wanted it to _get away_!" he snapped back, simultaneously preventing her from taking a flying leap into the water.

At that moment, they both froze as the watched a giant black hump covered in red spines rise out of the water, about 200 yards away.

Rodney's response was immediate. "Let it get away! Let it get away!"

"We've got to cut the line! I don't have a knife, do you?"

"No!" Elizabeth craned her neck to look behind her, into his panicked face. "Can't you just throw it in?"

"NO! Rodney, this is my only fishing pole!" As soon as the words left her mouth, there was one final tug, and Elizabeth's fishing pole ripped itself apart in an explosion of wood chips and metal gears. She was left standing there, hat askew, holding only the handle attached to a few twisted gears.

After a few moments of stunned, frozen silence, Rodney finally cleared his throat. "Well, that works."

"Rodney?" she asked.

"Hmm?" he answered.

"Why are you still holding on to me?"

Rodney's hands were instantly at his sides as he backed away, embarrassed and fidgety. "Well, I was just…and you were…uhm," Rodney moved one hand in a motion mimicking a swan dive. But Elizabeth was not longer listening to him, she was staring at the remnants of her fishing pole, lost in her grief. When Rodney saw the dazed expression on her face, he immediately switched to comfort mode. "Oh, Elizabeth, I'm so sorry."

"I should have known," Elizabeth said, trying to smile. "On Atlantis, not even fishing can be relaxing."

If it were anyone else, Rodney would have made a snappy "I told you so." But with Elizabeth, he just admired her for trying to put on a brave face. "Why don't you go back inside," Rodney cajoled. "I'll clean up out here."

Elizabeth picked a wood shard from the destroyed pole out of her hair. "Yeah, okay." She absentmindedly handed him what was left of her handle and shuffled off. "Maybe I'll go take a bubble bath," she mumbled to no one in particular. "That's got to be safe, right?"

oOo

One week later, Elizabeth walked through the halls of Atlantis, still scratching at the remnants of a rash she got from her bubble bath. She had borrowed the bottle from Dr. Heightmeyer, and something in it had given her an allergic reaction.

She had sought out Rodney earlier that day, intending to invite him to lunch and provide a distraction from her current state. However, when she had opened the door to his lab, she was surprised to find it empty. He had practically barricaded himself in that lab all week, not letting anyone in. He claimed whatever he was working on was some "tip-top, double secret" project, but the whole thing smelled a little fishy to her.

Elizabeth sighed aloud, once more realizing she had inadvertently thought about her lost fishing pole. She had been in a bad mood all week, alternately snapping at people or moping. She had blamed it on the rash, but truthfully she was in mourning for her favorite pastime.

Well, she supposed the itchy red bumps covering ninety percent of her body may have contributed to her bad mood a little.

Continuing her search for the wayward astrophysicist, Elizabeth spied Zelenka just down the hall. Surely, if anyone knew where Rodney was, it would be either Radek or that little Japanese assistant that Rodney kept insisting didn't have a crush on him.

"Dr. Zelenka!" she called after him. "Have you seen Rodney?"

Zelenka grinned. "Oh, yes, he just left a little while ago. I believe he said he was going on a 'sabbatical,'" and with a wink, he disappeared around the corner.

Elizabeth furrowed her brow in confusion. Deciding he could only mean one thing, she headed for the Eastern pier.

oOo

When Elizabeth reached the pier, she nearly burst out laughing. Rodney was standing there, in a gaudy Hawaiian shirt and a boonie hat, and struggling frantically to untangle himself from some sort of string. Rodney looked up at her barely concealed snort of laughter. "Fine, now that you've had your laugh, would you mind helping me out here?"

Elizabeth couldn't hide the amused grin as she helped Rodney untangle himself from what she soon discovered to be fishing line. When they had finally managed to free Rodney from the mess he had made, he said, "Well, this wasn't exactly how I wanted you to find out, but, well, here you are." Rodney spread his arms wide, indicating the lay out of the pier. Now that Elizabeth wasn't focused on Rodney's predicament, she could see that he had set out two chairs, a cooler full of drinks and chips fresh from the Daedalus, and…was that her green baseball cap?

"Rodney, what—"

"Wait," he said, holding up a finger. "You haven't seen the best part yet." He turned and took something out of one of the chairs, then stood and presented it to her with all the smugness and pride she had come to associate with the man after he'd successfully solved a particularly vexing problem.

Elizabeth immediately recognized the object as a fishing pole! "Oh, Rodney," she breathed, but words failed her as she took the silver pole from his hands, admiring it.

"It was a lot harder to make than it looks. I used the springstone alloy we got from the people on P3X-288 to make a new pole to attach to your old handle." And now that he said it, she looked at the handle, which was well worn from several years of use and abuse. "And I've added some modifications, as well. There's an automatic or manual reeling mechanism, a miniature sonar beacon attached to the bobber that will display on the life signs detector, and an emergency release button that will automatically cut the line." Rodney proudly pointed to a little red button near the top of the handle.

Elizabeth looked into his smiling face, and she smiled back. "Rodney, you really didn't have to do this."

"Oh, I know," he answered a little nervously. "But I-I wanted to, so…" He finished with a self-conscious shrug.

Elizabeth took pity on him in his awkwardness. Placing her free hand on his shoulder, she leaned up and kissed him briefly on the cheek. "Thank you, Rodney," she said.

"Yes, well, um…shall we?" He indicated the two chairs setting expectantly on the pier. She nodded, and they each took their seats. She noticed Rodney had his own pole as well.

Elizabeth put on her green hat, and Rodney held out a small tin to her that smelled strongly of cocoa butter. "Sunscreen?" he offered.

She declined with a smile, then said, "Rodney, um, we don't have any bait." She hated to rain on his parade, but that part was pretty crucial.

"Ah, not to worry!" He took out another tin and opened the lid to reveal purple wriggling things. "I got them from the mainland. Well, actually Teyla collected them when she was helping the rest of the Athosians plant new crops on the mainland." He looked at her, a little unsure. "They should work, right?"

Elizabeth eyed the purple worms uneasily, but they seemed relatively harmless. "They'll work fine, Rodney."

"Good," he said, as if convincing himself. She noticed he was eyeing the worms doubtfully as well. "They're at least better than Chef Olaf's stinky cheese."

Elizabeth laughed at that. A minute later, they had their hooks baited (Elizabeth had to do Rodney's for him, amidst much teasing) and were sitting in comfortable silence watching the waves ripple out on the ocean. After a few moments, she felt Rodney's eyes on her. "What?"

"Nothing," Rodney answered quickly, then stared out at the ocean again. Now it was Elizabeth's turn to watch Rodney as the sunlight reflected off the water, causing lights to dance across his face. Elizabeth could tell he was deep in thought, but she had no idea what might be going on in the ever-active brain of his.

Finally, Rodney said, "So, where did you get that hat?"

Of all the things Elizabeth expected to be asked, that question didn't even make the list. "It was a present," she answered, a little shocked.

Rodney looked down at his hands. "Oh." If it was a statement, it felt more like a question.

"Yes, from General O'Neill."

Rodney's head snapped up to look at her. "What? Really?"

"Yes, sort of a going away present, you could say. He saw what I had requisitioned as my personal item, and he figured he'd found a kindred spirit, of a sort. He gave me the hat just before we left, and told me it had always brought him luck, even when he wasn't fishing." She grinned at the memory.

"Oh." This time, it sounded like he understood. "So, did it work?"

Elizabeth thought about the Wraith, the Genii, their constant search for a ZPM…Then she looked down at her fishing pole, and next at the man who had made it for her. "Yes," she answered. "I think it's brought me luck."

Rodney was busy trying to cast his line back out, with some difficulty, and was only half listening. "Good, good," he answered, oblivious.

"Yes, it is…" Elizabeth answered, deep in thought. They spent the rest of the day on the pier. They never caught anything, at least not that day. But Elizabeth remembered it fondly as one of the best sabbaticals she had ever taken.

oOo

Author's notes 2: Okay, the first part of this has been sitting on my hard drive for a long time, (since season 1!) so I decided to finally finish it off and post it. With the lack of McWeir moments this season, even friendship, it seemed appropriate.


End file.
